The Velvet Underground have lost a copyright claim against the Andy Warhol Foundation.
It’s perhaps the most iconic banana in the history of rock music. Adorning the cover of ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ the insignia has been closely attached to both Andy Warhol and the New York group for more than four decades.
Earlier this year, The Velvet Underground launched a copyright claim to gain control of the design. Disputing the Andy Warhol Foundation’s claims of ownership, the band attempted to wrestle ownership of the banana.
As a result, the Andy Warhol Foundation issued a binding legal covenant, agreeing to never sue the Velvet Underground for copyright infringement. The organisation offered indemnity “under the current, former, or any future copyright law of the United States … (and) regardless of whether said claim arises from VU’s or any other (related) party’s past, current or future conduct”.
Seemingly, this covenant has done the trick. The Guardian reports that on Friday, judge Alison Nathan ruled that the covenant removes the issue of copyright dispute.
“Without a specific dispute over imminent activity, a declaratory judgment here would simply be ‘an opinion advising what the law would be under a hypothetical state of facts,'” Nathan wrote (via the Hollywood Reporter). “The (US) Constitution gives this court no power to issue such an opinion.”
Here’s ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’.
